Stressing on the need to rewrite history from India’s point of view, Home Minister Amit Shah said had it not been for Veer Savarkar, the first war of Independence in 1857 would have been seen from Britain’s point of view.

It was Savarkar who coined the term ‘First War of Independence’ for the revolt, he said.

Shah said, “If there was no Veer Savarkar, the 1857 kranti (revolution) would not have become history. We would view even that from the point of view of the British.”

“For how long will we blame the British that we faced injustice? Who is stopping us from amending history, researching and creating reference texts by rewriting history in popular languages?” he asked.

Amit Shah made the remarks as he inaugurated a two-day international seminar in Varanasi on ‘Guptvanshak-Veer: Skandgupta Vikramaditya’ at the Banaras Hindu University.

Referring to eminent historians in the audience and on the dais, he said, “It is my request to all that there is a need to rewrite the Indian history from India’s point of view but without blaming anyone.”

“It is our responsibility to write our history. How long are we going to blame the British? We don’t have to dispute the facts, only write what the truth is… what is our point of view, and it will stand the test of time,” the Minister said.

“Respect for the country has increased under him. The world pays attention to our point of view. The world listens when our PM speaks on international developments,” Amit Shah said.